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Caucasus – Terra Incognito

Chechnya, Ingushetia, Dagestan, Ossetia, not even the more experienced travelers can pin-point all these places on a map. Neither could I before I traveled this region for one month in the summer of 2019.  But isn’t this the best reason to head out to such very off off the beaten tracks? Most of the time I travelled on my own on public transport. I felt completely safe, actually I was overwhelmed by the help I received from total strangers. For a few days I joined six other people to visit South Ossetia, since a special invitation is required for this tiny country. It was the perfect mix, four weeks on my own knowing about 20 words of Russian might have been a bit lonely.

Russia’s Caucasus Region

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Dagestan – Land of Mountains

Dagestan is not a safe place to travel, if you listen to official sources, all I encountered was a peaceful country whose people bent backwards to make me feel welcome. Actually the trip would not have possible without the help of locals, who basically “passed me on” from village to village.

Dagestan countryside

The name of the republic translates into “The country of mountains”. Not less than 30 peaks in Dagestan are above 4,000 m. More scenery is simply not possible. The few tourists, exclusively Russians vacation at the Caspian Sea and fill the short promenade at night. During my one week trip through the villages of Dagestan I met one non-Russian tourist. So how do you travel such a place, without speaking Russian? I could not find a travel guide to Dagestan and there was very little information online.

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